ABSTRACT
T h e revitalization of the retail core of our cities has become a major strategy for urban revitalization. It is not a new objective, but the perceived feasibility of actually accomplishing this objective has risen dramatically. There has always been a strong group in support of the downtowns of our cities. During the suburban development boom of the postwar years, however, the strategy tended to be one of survival: how do we freeze the deterioration of downtown? How do we stabilize what is there? There was very little emphasis on the idea of trying to turn the downtown around and make it grow. This is the current objective.
